EDITORIAL : DON'T WAIT, PREPARE NOW; OFFICIALS SHOULD ENHANCE MAJOR PIECES OF INFRASTRUCTURE BEFORE NEXT QUAKE.THE recent deadly earthquakes in Taiwan and Turkey bring about two reactions here in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . One is the memory of the most recent major temblor, the Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. , and the second is that we need to do a lot to prevent catastrophe. It was 68 months ago that the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. was violently shaken at 4:31 a.m., and there are still repair projects going on. One of them is the work to shore up the Pacoima Dam Pacoima Dam is a variable radius arch dam on Pacoima Creek in the U.S. state of California. It is also known as Reagan Dam. The dam is situated in a canyon five miles (8 km) northeast of San Fernando. , which was seriously damaged in the 1994 quake when for an instant the 405,000-ton structure became weightless. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Public Works crews made interim repairs to the dam, which is designed for flood prevention and water conservation projects, in October 1994. But permanent repairs to the structure still need to be completed. It seems incomprehensible that five years later such work continues. But fixing massive structures like that takes time to plan, search for firms to do the work and then complete the work, said Hossam Banna, a supervising engineer with the county Department of Public Works. ``It's not an easy, just-go-build-it project,'' Banna said. This week, the county Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. approved up to $12.5 million to upgrade some of the dam's safety features, including widening the spillway spillway, n a channel or passageway through which food escapes from the occlusal surfaces of the teeth during mastication. The occlusal, developmental, and supplemental grooves, as well as the incisal, occlusal, labial, buccal, and lingual embrasures, to protect the homes a half mile downstream in case the dam breaks in a temblor. County and city officials did an admirable job in some regards in identifying ways to improve our safety by examining the damage after the Northridge Earthquake. New building codes were implemented, structures were enhanced to withstand major earthquakes, and new protocols were put in place for emergency situations. But now, in this relative still before the next big quake, officials ought to be searching for ways to enhance major pieces of infrastructure, like the Pacoima Dam, to make us safer in the event of a temblor like those that struck Taiwan and Turkey. Officials tell residents to prepare for the inevitable; so should they. |
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